Wichita State vs Marshall Game Thread - First Round NCAA 2018 Tournament

[ShockRef]

Let's give Marshall their due, they executed their offense very well with very little disruption from us. They wanted for us to play their game and we did exactly that - kudos to them for drawing us in.

We needed more outside presence instead of Conor and Willis today. Austin was 0-fer from the 3 point line today. He needs to bulk up and improve his conditioning over the off-season. I'm a firm believer that more playing time down the stretch was detrimental to his game. He's a slender fella and I'm thinking the minutes down the stretch fatigued him. Over his last 5 games he shot 23% from the field and 9% from the 3-pt line. Shooting is all in your legs and he had to have been fatigued .

Rev,
Pretty spot on assessment. Reaves has looked worn down for the last 3 weeks. I noted it in Orlando too.
This one is on a team that once again thought they were better than they were. Kelly in so much said it after the game that certain players (not hard to ID either) perceived the big #4 seed as a testimony they just had to show up and collect the 'W'.
The effort and focus just wasn't there today and hasn't been for a month. They are an OT win @ UCF from losing 4 of their last 5 games (and were fortunate to beat Temple in Orlando). Once again, After the win @ UC, they just didn't execute and didn't put forth what it takes this time of year.

A lot of pointing fingers at the Lieutenants (and justified) but the buck stops with the guy who hired them. He picked them so it starts and ends with him.
HCGM is a great recruiter and motivator, but his in-game adjustments and ability to recognize what the competition has adjusted are not on the same level with his competition. He needs that 'guy' on the bench to step forward and make the right suggestion at the right time. Unfortunately, that 'guy' now resides Las Cruces New Mexico.

If you were looking for an 'AHA' moment, watch the game again and pay attention to how many times they continued to run the same offense, even after Marshall's only post presence went to the bench with 4 fouls. It was the same deal in Orlando against Houston.
No adjustment. Just the same sets over and over.

Again could a time out have been called and change the approach?
Maybe, but that's been the DNA all year and expecting change now was unrealistic.

It will be a very interesting off season. Expect multiple personnel 'adjustments'.

That is all.

[Wuchalk]

How many turnovers for Landry?

Hundreds.

[Topshock]

Our guards are slow. They can't stay in front of anybody on D. They can't beat defenders into the paint with the ball, and they can't make moves to get angles to make entry passes to the post.

We can't really play that "spread the floor and let somebody go to work" game. Our guy who can play that type of game with the ball in his hands is SHJ, and there's a reason he wasn't recruited out of HS.

Ours guards get into the paint and can feed the post just fine when we have one five on the floor and 4 shooters otherwise it is too congested as defenders sag off the non shooters.

[proshox]

Exactly. In soccer the Optic Heat maps are utilized to show spacing and overall positioning throughout a game.

For today’s basketball game... use your DVR and fast forward through the game. Look at overall spacing.

Marshall had our defense spread to all four corners and nobody in the paint. This allowed their center to drive and finish. Tell me Landry couldn’t have torched our defense if he was on the other team with all that space. You can’t with a straight face!

WSU’s offense allows three defenders to permanently sit inside the lane. Nobody outside of Allen Iverson is driving in there and having success.

[shox526]

Some very interesting comments in one of the Eagle’s articles:

Senior Rashard Kelly said it came down to not handling business "like men" against Marshall, a team without an NCAA Tournament victory in its history.

"I think it just goes all the way back to our preparation, our mindset," Kelly said. "Not everything was on the ups. Not everything was on the positive around here. Our young guys, they aren't the most perfect players, and they do make mistakes.

"We weren't able to eliminate it, and things didn't change."

Is this a shot at Landry? Does he put himself above the team or something behind the scenes? Or what is the story here? I have heard rumblings throughout the season about discontent in the locker room, but don’t have the connections to know what’s really been up.

[AndShock]

That definitely sounds like a shot that he’s been holding back until the season was over. I would guess it’s a shot at Markis before Landry.

[Walker]

I think sometimes us fans read into things more than we should, ESPECIALLY after a frustrating loss.This team is a tight group of guys that love each other. These guys probably have a million different things going through their minds, and the media ask loaded questions, sometimes inadvertently, but there doesn’t always have to be some underlying juicy storyline that explains our teams woes. Sometimes teams have a bad year and it just takes going back to the drawing board and using this as motivation for next season.

[ShockerFever]

Some very interesting comments in one of the Eagle’s articles:

Senior Rashard Kelly said it came down to not handling business "like men" against Marshall, a team without an NCAA Tournament victory in its history.

"I think it just goes all the way back to our preparation, our mindset," Kelly said. "Not everything was on the ups. Not everything was on the positive around here. Our young guys, they aren't the most perfect players, and they do make mistakes.

"We weren't able to eliminate it, and things didn't change."

Is this a shot at Landry? Does he put himself above the team or something behind the scenes? Or what is the story here? I have heard rumblings throughout the season about discontent in the locker room, but don’t have the connections to know what’s really been up.

Hmm. I'm not sure Kelly should be calling out people for making mistakes, of all people.

[kcshocker11]

Turnovers killed us period!

[jdmee]

Who was our Evan Wessel this year?

[slyp3st]

Probably Kelly. He fought hard for rebounds like Wessel did. No one as good definsively

[cjp27]

Last years team would have won this game by 30. I'm not smart enough to dissect why the same group of players regressed so much as a whole. I know the league was a step up, and we all expected more losses because of the step up in competition. But last years team annihilated mediocre competition. This years team didn't. Were guys playing hurt? Was it something else? Losing assistants? A combination of all the above? All teams get upset in the tournament, it happens. I guess if the definition of a disappointing season is 25 wins and a first round loss, then those are first world problems.

[slyp3st]

I dont think the league change made any difference in the regression. I think bad coaching and players simply being worse was the downfall. Not having a reliable backup point guard also hurt.

[proshox]

Our defense lost its edge as the year went on. In the Valley we may have kept the mojo going. But who knows.

[jdmee]

It just seemed we were like the soft KU and CU teams that get bounced early.

[BAShocker]

My wish is that our coaching staff attends a Junior High girls coaching clinic to figure out how to run a few underneath our own basket out of bounds plays.

I’m not for sure we even have one, unless Cotton comes back and we throw the ally-oop dunk pass to him. Seems like every other team looks to score (and score frequently) off an out of bounds play...must not be part of our offense.

[shock-it-to-me]

Many on point criticism, but in addition, man it seems like we were snake bit this year. Nothing exemplifies it more than the out of bounds call with four seconds on the shot that turned into a miracle three. I called that during the time out in the game thread. Was there ever a doubt?

[Aargh]

#559.2

Walker commented

This team is a tight group of guys that love each other.

I don't think I'm buying that part about loving each other. This team had the look and feel of a team with some issues. I also think Kelly earned the right to have an opinion.

[Topshock]

Completely agree with this.

[ShockerFever]

I don't think I'm buying that part about loving each other. This team had the look and feel of a team with some issues. I also think Kelly earned the right to have an opinion.

Why?

[Husker4Shockers]

Um, maybe because no one played harder all year than Rashard?

[Shockm]

I don't think I'm buying that part about loving each other. This team had the look and feel of a team with some issues. I also think Kelly earned the right to have an opinion.

I agree with Kelly’s opinion being important and maybe he is pointing to a split locker room or maybe Kelly is like many on this board and spouting off too much and too quickly after a bitter loss and he lacks balance and integrity. I know not which is right and you don’t either Aargh. Time will tell.

[BOBB]

Rev,
Pretty spot on assessment. Reaves has looked worn down for the last 3 weeks. I noted it in Orlando too.
This one is on a team that once again thought they were better than they were. Kelly in so much said it after the game that certain players (not hard to ID either) perceived the big #4 seed as a testimony they just had to show up and collect the 'W'.
The effort and focus just wasn't there today and hasn't been for a month. They are an OT win @ UCF from losing 4 of their last 5 games (and were fortunate to beat Temple in Orlando). Once again, After the win @ UC, they just didn't execute and didn't put forth what it takes this time of year.

A lot of pointing fingers at the Lieutenants (and justified) but the buck stops with the guy who hired them. He picked them so it starts and ends with him.
HCGM is a great recruiter and motivator, but his in-game adjustments and ability to recognize what the competition has adjusted are not on the same level with his competition. He needs that 'guy' on the bench to step forward and make the right suggestion at the right time. Unfortunately, that 'guy' now resides Las Cruces New Mexico.

If you were looking for an 'AHA' moment, watch the game again and pay attention to how many times they continued to run the same offense, even after Marshall's only post presence went to the bench with 4 fouls. It was the same deal in Orlando against Houston.
No adjustment. Just the same sets over and over.

Again could a time out have been called and change the approach?
Maybe, but that's been the DNA all year and expecting change now was unrealistic.

It will be a very interesting off season. Expect multiple personnel 'adjustments'.

That is all.

Really getting tired of agreeing with you.